Spring is here, an odd time to be talking of autumn. But The Autumnal #6 is an odd book, brilliantly odd, from Vault Comics.
It’s been several months in the world of reviews since I’ve posted about The Autumnal. You know, it’s New England US setting, the family mystery, the creepy goings-on in Comfort Notch.
Daniel Kraus (The Shape of Water, Trollhunters, The Living Dead, etc) writes the scenes, those claustrophobic montages of the threat of the environment, the isolation of Kat and Sybil, and the oppressive feel is almost tangible. Sybil, a girl in trouble at school in Chicago; her mom Kat Somerville, a woman with relationship trouble. Now relocated, and Kat sneaking around the town library, alarming the residents.
Chris Shehan’s shadowy style gives us the ultimate line-drawn interpretation of the characters and their perceptions of danger of being trapped in a small town. Scratchy lines, thorny blobs of ink. Not ultra-real, but massively atmospheric. The black shadows where other artists would see shades of grey. The floating-point of view that gives the reader the uneasy feeling that something or someone is watching.
Strong earth tones of decay and brilliant fall displays are the flavour of Jason Wordie’s colouring. Jim Campbell finds the right placement for word balloons, circling like a crow, looking for the opportunity to swoop in with more rhythm and blues.
Nicely done and crisply continued…. A notch above the rest, The Autumnal keeps the creepy coming.
Vault Comics, The Autumnal #6, $3.99 for 24 pages of content. Assume Teen rating.
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